UPSC Current Affairs 12 October 2026

• The Organism: It is a gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium first isolated in 1897 by Japanese physician Kiyoshi Shiga.
• High Contagiousness: It has an incredibly low infectious dose—ingesting as few as 10 to 100 bacteria is enough to make a person severely ill.
• Human Reservoir: Humans are the primary natural reservoir for this bacterium.

• Fecal-Oral Route: The primary mode of transmission is the accidental ingestion of bacteria from the feces of an infected person.
• Contaminated Water & Food: Consuming water contaminated with sewage or eating food handled by an infected individual.
• Person-to-Person & Surfaces: Touching contaminated surfaces (bathroom door handles, flush levers, diapers) and then touching the mouth.
• Sexual Contact: Direct exposure during sexual activity, which is driving a significant portion of current adult outbreaks.

• Severe Diarrhea: Frequently prolonged, watery, and characteristically bloody or mucoid.
• Abdominal Cramps: Sharp, painful, and sudden stomach pain.
• Tenesmus: A constant, painful feeling of needing to pass stool even when the bowels are completely empty.
• High Fever & Vomiting: Sudden spikes in temperature (sometimes triggering seizures in children) accompanied by nausea.

• Children under 5 years old: Especially those in daycare settings, due to developing immune systems and shared play environments.
• People in crowded housing: Areas with poor sanitation, refugee camps, or individuals experiencing homelessness.
• Men who have sex with men (MSM): Due to specific rapid transmission paths within sexual networks.
• International travellers: Individuals visiting developing nations with sub-optimal water infrastructure.

• Hydration First: The vast majority of mild cases clear spontaneously in 5 to 7 days. Treatment focuses primarily on oral rehydration solutions (ORS) and electrolyte replenishment.
• Antibiotics: Reserved for severe cases, the elderly, or immunocompromised patients. Due to growing Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), doctors now rely strictly on laboratory-guided antibiotic selection.
• Avoid Anti-Diarrheal Medications: Medicines like loperamide (Imodium) should not be taken, as they keep the bacteria trapped in the digestive tract longer, worsening the infection.

• Rigorous Handwashing: Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after using the toilet or changing diapers.
• Safe Food & Water Practices: Boil water or drink bottled water if the local supply is questionable, and wash fruits and vegetables aggressively.
• Sanitation Separation: Safely dispose of soiled diapers in lined, lidded bins.
• Post-Recovery Caution: Infected individuals can shed the bacteria in their stool for weeks after symptoms disappear. Partners should avoid sexual activity for at least a week after full clinical recovery.

• The Diamondback Terrapin is the only North American turtle species exclusively adapted to brackish water.
• It inhabits the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, from Cape Cod to Texas, and Bermuda.
• Its habitats include salt marshes, mangroves, tidal flats, lagoons and coastal creeks.

• It is named after the diamond-shaped concentric patterns on its upper shell.
• Distinctive skin markings help identify individuals.
• Webbed feet aid swimming, while specialised salt glands help excrete excess salt.
• Females are larger (6–9 inches) than males (4–5 inches).

• It is carnivorous, feeding on snails, crabs, clams and mussels.
• By controlling marsh snail populations, it helps protect salt-marsh vegetation.
• Northern populations hibernate in marsh mud during winter.

• Nest temperature determines hatchling sex; warmer nests generally produce females.
• Females lay 4–25 eggs in sandy nests, mainly during June–July.
• Hatchlings emerge around August–September and face predation from foxes and raccoons.

• Major threats include drowning in crab traps, habitat destruction, sea-level rise and illegal wildlife trade.
• Historically, overharvesting for turtle soup severely reduced populations.
• The species is classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
• Bycatch Reduction Devices (BRDs) prevent terrapins from entering crab traps, substantially reducing accidental deaths while maintaining crab harvests.

• The NGOPV Programme: In March 2023, the Ministry of Defence signed a contract for 11 Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessels at a combined cost of approximately ₹9,781 crore.
• Shipyard Division: The 11-ship project is being concurrently executed across two Defence Public Sector shipyards—four vessels are being built by GRSE (Kolkata) and the remaining seven are being built by Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL).
• Naming Heritage: Following the Indian Navy's tradition of naming ships after cultural heritage, the name 'Shreyas' is derived from Sanskrit, meaning 'Best' or 'Most Excellent'.

• Dimensions: The vessel measures approximately 113 metres in length and 14.6 metres in width.
• Displacement: It has a total displacement of 3,000 tonnes, making these next-gen ships significantly larger and more potent than existing OPVs.
• Speed: The warship is capable of achieving top speeds of up to 23 knots.
• Endurance & Range: It features a massive operational endurance of 8,500 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 14 knots.

• Maritime Surveillance & Coastal Defence: Monitoring exclusive economic zones (EEZ) and tracking threat vectors.
• Protection of Offshore Assets: Guarding critical infrastructure like oil rigs and offshore platforms.
• Anti-Piracy & Counter-Infiltration: Securing Sea lines of communication against pirate attacks and illicit entry.
• HADR & Search and Rescue (SAR): Spearheading Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations during natural calamities.
• Special Operations & Mine Warfare: Executing highly specialized tasks, including maritime interdiction, fleet maintenance, and out-of-area contingency deployments.

• Primary Objective: To ensure absolute compliance with the Food Safety and Standards Act, eradicate adulteration, eliminate the reuse of toxic cooking oil, and penalise eateries operating in unhygienic environments.
• Focus on Cooking Oil Quality: A primary focus of the operation is checking used cooking oil. Under the regulations, the Total Polar Compounds (TPC) level in cooking oil must not exceed 25%. Officials use specialised TPC meters and mobile testing laboratories to instantly verify oil quality.
• Enforcement Mechanism: The state has deployed six specialised mobile squads tasked with conducting surprise inspections, gathering samples, and taking instant punitive actions against violators.
• Recent Major Actions Taken:
  • Kollam: Inspected 96 establishments, leading to the immediate closure of 8 shops operating without mandatory licences or medical certificates, and issuing compounding fines to 14 unhygienic stores.
  • Wayanad (Kalpetta): Suspended the licences of four food establishments and destroyed a substantial quantity of unhygienic foods, including worm-infested olives, contaminated salads, and improperly stored meat.
  • Kozhikode: Inspected over 201 establishments, seized and destroyed hundreds of litres of unsafe used cooking oil, and imposed hefty fines (such as ₹1 lakh on a single unhygienic snack manufacturing unit).
• Penalties and Legal Framework: Under the Food Safety and Standards regulations, establishments found violating compliance rules face:
  • Fines ranging from ₹1 lakh to ₹5 lakh for supplying food below prescribed standards, unhygienic food preparation, misleading advertisements, or operating without a valid license.
  • Imprisonment and heavy criminal penalties for severe offences that result in food poisoning or public fatalities.

• Family: It is a member of the Herpesviridae family (specifically human herpesvirus 4).
• Structure: It is an enveloped, double-stranded DNA virus possessing glycoprotein spikes on its surface.
• Prevalence: It is incredibly ubiquitous, infecting roughly 95% of the adult human population globally. Most people contract it at some stage in life.

• Saliva (Primary Route): It transfers primarily through oral secretions, earning it the moniker "the kissing disease". It spreads via kissing or sharing food, drinks, cups, and toothbrushes.
• Other Bodily Fluids: It can also be transmitted via blood and semen during unprotected sex, blood transfusions, or organ transplants.

• Asymptomatic: Childhood infections are usually completely mild or display no symptoms at all.
• Infectious Mononucleosis (Mono): If contracted during adolescence or young adulthood, it often causes mono or glandular fever.
• Common Physical Signs: When illness surfaces, it typically results in:
  • Extreme, prolonged fatigue
  • High fever and sore, inflamed throat
  • Swollen lymph nodes (particularly in the neck)
  • Enlarged spleen or liver, and skin rashes

• B-Cell Latency: After the initial infection clears, the virus doesn't leave. It establishes a lifelong, silent infection inside the body's memory B-lymphocytes (white blood cells).
• Reactivation Triggers: The virus can periodically awaken (reactivate). This usually happens during periods of psychological stress, weakened immunity, or immunosuppression.

• Cancers: Burkitt lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, gastric (stomach) cancer, and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. It is estimated to cause roughly 2% of all global cancers.
• Neurological Diseases: Multiple Sclerosis (MS), raising an individual's MS risk 32-fold.
• Autoimmune Disorders: Linked to Lupus and Sjögren’s syndrome.
• Post-Viral Syndromes: Implicated in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and certain long-COVID symptoms.

• Diagnosis: Doctors diagnose it through clinical evaluation and blood antibody tests (such as detecting VCA IgM/IgG or EBNA antibodies) or through a PCR test to check the active viral load.
• Treatment: There is no specific cure or approved antiviral medication for EBV. Treatment relies entirely on supportive symptom management: plenty of rest, high fluid intake, and over-the-counter pain relievers.
• Precaution: Individuals recovering from active mono are strongly advised to avoid strenuous activity or contact sports to prevent accidental rupture of an enlarged spleen.

• What it is: It is an innovative acoustic (sound-based) deterrent system designed by the Indian Railways to prevent wild elephants from wandering onto railway tracks and getting hit by speeding trains.
• The Mechanism: The device plays a highly amplified buzzing sound of a swarm of honeybees.
• The Science: Elephants have a natural fear of honeybees, as swarms can painfully sting the highly sensitive areas around their eyes, ears, and trunks. The sound acts as a natural repellent, prompting the herds to move away from the tracks.
• Audibility Range: The bee-buzzing sound generated by these trackside speakers can be heard by elephants from a distance of 400 to 700 metres away, giving them ample time to retreat.
• Deployment: Developed initially by the NFR's Rangiya Division, the first prototype was tested near the Guwahati/Kamakhya station in Assam around 2017. It has now been expanded to over 56 vulnerable locations across multi-state forest tracks.
• Recognition: The initiative was highly praised within the network and won the Indian Railways' Best Innovation Award.

• AI Intrusion Detection System (IDS): Utilizes Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) fiber cables to pick up the ground vibrations of moving elephant herds in real-time, instantly alerting train pilots.
• Infrastructure & Logistics: Building dedicated underpasses and ramps for wildlife crossing, clearing trackside vegetation for better visibility, enforcing strict speed limits, and deploying manual foot-trackers.

• Slowing Global Economy: Global economic growth is projected to decelerate to 2.6% in 2026, down from 2.9% in 2025.
• Resilient But Narrow Trade Growth: Global trade in goods and services is expected to expand by 4% in 2026 (reaching a record high of $35 trillion in 2025). However, this growth is heavily driven by price inflation from energy shocks and export controls, rather than a rise in organic volume.
• Widening Gaps: Growth in developing economies as a whole is projected to drop to 4% in 2026, compared to 4.7% in 2025, revealing stark developmental disparities.

• US-China Trade Decoupling: Direct trade between China and the United States has plunged by more than 20% since 2024.
• Rise of East Asia: East Asian economies are capitalising on this rift by expanding their trade corridors simultaneously with both China and North America.
• Rise of Economic Nationalism: Governments are increasingly using trade, industrial, financial, and technology policies to safeguard national security, making it harder for new entrants to access strategic fields.

• Primary Driver of Trade: Artificial intelligence-related goods (chips, servers, data centre infrastructure) accounted for 42% of merchandise trade growth and made up one-sixth of global goods trade value in 2025.
• Unequal Distribution: The report warns that AI gains are highly concentrated. A case study on an advanced AI server rack revealed that profits absorb 68% of the value, while actual workers receive less than 15%.
• Bubble Risks: UNCTAD flags that the AI hardware boom shows signs of earlier financial bubbles; a sudden drop in tech shares could freeze broader credit lines.

• Energy Shocks: Geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East severely tested fuel-importing nations, driving Brent crude oil prices from $70 to over $110 a barrel in the weeks following the flare-ups.
• Dwindling Aid: Official Development Assistance (ODA) to lower-income countries is projected to fall by nearly 7% in 2026, marking its third straight annual decline.

• Fastest-Growing Major Economy: India’s GDP is projected to expand by 7.3% in 2026, outperforming all other major economic powers.
• Greenfield Investment Hub: India captured 5.7% of global greenfield investments between 2020 and 2025, effectively doubling China’s share (2.8%) during the same period.
• Growth Catalysts: Strong industrial policies, aggressive manufacturing expansion, infrastructure overhauls, and integrating tightly into global value chains are driving India's investment boom.

1. Prioritise Local Value: Tie Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to local suppliers and technology transfers rather than just remaining low-value assembly hubs.
2. Aggressive Energy Transition: Pivot heavily to renewables, which are now cheaper than fossil fuels in over 90% of new energy cases.
3. Regional Alliances: Deepen regional trade, payment frameworks, and technology sharing to resist global fragmentation.

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